I am a casual player who enjoys playing offline games at a slow pace while listening to audiobooks.
Recently, I won a game under confusing circumstances.
The victory condition was set to standard with no team victory, and I was playing against seven AIs.
I was attempting to win by obtaining a relic, and I had paid tributes and allied with every AI, while disabling the allied victory option.
I had identified three AIs that likely had at least one relic each and was planning to betray them to steal the relics.
However, before I could do so, one of the AIs was attacked and defeated by another.
As soon as the defeated AI surrendered, the game ended, and all remaining players were declared victorious.
I had not formed an alliance with anyone else, and allied victory was disabled, so I am unsure why this happened.